Improvement in machines for making boot and shoe heels



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MGKAY & H. P. FAIRFIEL Machines for Making Boot and Shoe Heels. bio 153 360 Patentedluly 21,1874.

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Patented July 21,1874.

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UNITED STATES GORDON MCKAY AND HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD PATENT OEFIoE;

ASSIGNORS TO JAMES V. BROOKS, TRUSTEE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR MAKING BOOT AND SHO E HEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,260, dated July 21, 1874; application filed March 31, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GORDON MOKAY and- HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Iniprovements in Machines for Making Boot and Shoe Heels; and we do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a front elevation of our improved machine. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is a top-plan view of the revolving die-table detached from the machine. Fig. 4, Sheet 3, is a vertical section of the machine taken in the plane of the line mm, Fig. 2. Fig. 5, Sheet 3, is a detached view of the devices for operating the follower of the pricking mechanism. Fig. 6, Sheet 3, is a perspective view of the nailcharging device, one side being broken away. Fig. 7, Sheet 3, is a perspective view of the sliding plate detached from the naileharging device.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanyin g drawings denote the same parts.

Our invention relates to a machine for compa-cting heelsfor boots and shoes, pricking the holes for the nails which fasten the heel to the shoe, and driving them sufficiently. to hold'in the heel ready for the operation of permanently nailing the heel to a shoe.

A general description of the action of the machine is as follows:

There is a revolving table containing four tapering dies, free to move vertically in the table, of the form of the finished heel. A heel-blank?--that is, an assemblage of heellifts-of suitable size to form a heel, is introduced'into one of these dies, and forced intothe tapering cavity therein by a pressingplate acting on the under and larger side, while another pressing-plate acts to prevent the heel from being pressed through the die,-

thus pressing the heel on all sides at once. These two pressingplates are then withdrawn and the heel is retained in the dieby its adhesion to the sides alone. The plate then reputting the nails into these holes,-

has on the under side of it a ner already described, into the die that has, by

the rotation of the plate, come over the 00111- on BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,

pressing apparatus, and as blanks are introduced at each quarter revolution of the revolving plate, and follow each other through the same process, it will be unnecessary to describe anything more than the progress of one heel through the machine. The first heel is now pricked for the nails. This is done by a gang of awls, which pass through an awlblock and come in contact with the upper surface of the heel. The die, in coming under the pricking mechanism, comes over a follower, which, by an adjustable cam, is raised very nearly to the under side of the heel, and as the awls come down to prick the heel they carry it down onto the follower, and thus release the side pressure, the awls to enter the heel. The awls are then withdrawn, and thereby the heel is again carried up into the taper of the die and retained there firmly, being wedged into the taper of the die, while the revolving plate makes another quarter revolution, bringing the heel under the apparatus for putting the nails into the holes pricked for them. Here there is also a follower like the one under the pricking apparatus. there is used a charging-plate, having holes drilled in it to correspond with the holes already pricked in the heel. This plate is a little thicker than the length of the nails, and thin sliding plate, made to move about one-fourth of an inch. There are holes through this under plate, which, when it is pushed in, correspond with the holes in the thick plate first mentioned; but when the sliding plate is drawn out the holes are closed. The charging-plate is filled with nails and placed over the heel. There is a gang of drivers which come down to carry the nails through the charging-plate into the heel, and a projecting piece on this gang comes in contact with an inclined piece on the sliding plate in the charging-plate, and pushes it in so as to open the nail-holes and let the nails enter the heel. The gang of making it easier for To load the nails into the heel drivers in forcing the nails into the heel carry it onto the follower and free it from the tapering die. The dieplate now revolves another quarter revolution, and the loaded and compressed heel drops out through a hole in the under plate. 7

In the accompanying drawings, A A is the frame of the machine, made in the general form shown in the drawings, and cast or otherwise provided with a central horizontal bedplate, B, from the front edge of which, between the uprights of the frame, depends a bracket or arm, 0. The rear side of this bracket is formed or provided with a pipebox, D, for the passage of the shaft E, which extends vertically through the center and top cross-piece of the frame. F is the die-plate or table, mounted upon the shaft E so as to turn freely thereon in close proximity to the bedplate B. G G are the tapering dies, four in number, arranged at equal distances apart within the die plate, with their smallest openings uppermost. They are supported within the die-plate by flanges h, secured to the bottom of the latter,and are free to move vertically, being guided in such movements by the ribs 1', as shown. J is a cross-head, firmly keyed to the shaft E above the dieplate, so as to move vertically with said shaft, and is recessed at its ends to fit the guideways K, formed by the sides of the frame. One arm of the cross-head forms the top compressor L for the heel within the front die. The next arm, in the direction of the rotation of the die-plate, carries a gang of awls, M, for piercing the compressed heel, and the rear arm carries a gang of drivers, N, to drive the nails into the pierced heel. The several arms are of course arranged to coincide with the dies, when the die-plate is in position for the various operations.

0 is a vertical guidebox, secured to or cast upon the front of the bracket, in line with the top compressor L, and having a front opening at its upper end for the insertion of the heel-blank. P is a lever, whose fulcrum is uponthe lower endof the bracket G. The front end of the lever is pivoted to a block, Q, which occupies a vertical position within the guide-box, to receive the lower compressing heel-plateIt. This plate rests upon a rubber cushion, R, as shown, to receive the jar of the parts and prevent their displacement. The vertical shaft Eis also pivoted to this lever immediately in rear of the bracket, and the lever is worked by the crankwheel S. In the drawings, the crank-shaft T is arranged to be operated by a crank, but in the full-sized working-machine gearing is employed, driven by a belted balance-wheel having an engaging mechanism operated by a treadle, so as to give one revolution to the crank-shaft and arrest the motion when the crank-pin is at its lowest point. This mechanism istoo well known to need description, and is omitted in the drawings, to avoid complication.

The heel-blank to be compressed is inserted movemen t.

in the top of the guide-box, so as to rest upon the compressor-plate 1t, and when this plate is raised by the operation of the machine it carries the front die up with it till the die meets the top compressor L, which, descending with the shaft E, forces such die down as far as the upper surface of the die-plate, the under pressing-plate at the same time entering the die a short distance. By this means the heel-blank is forced into the cavity of the die. The compressors are then retracted to their first positions by the revolution of the crank-shaft, and

onequarter the die -plate revolved by hand round, carrying the compressed heel beneath the awl-gang M. The descent of the cross-head causes the awls and their plate U to press upon the upper surface of the heel and carry the latter down to a follower, 'V, thus loosening the heel in the die to admit of its being easily pierced by the awls. The 'follower'V is lifted by the pivoted adjustable levers W and the cam X on the crank-shaft, as shown in Fig. 5. This release of theheel in the dieis very slightsufficient only to efl'ectthe purpose, but not enough to allow the heel anyperce'ptible lateral The awls pierce 'theheel, and, as

they are withdrawn by the ascent of the crosshead, they draw the heel firmly into the die again. If desired, the awl-plate U may be constructed to drive an inclined or slanting awl, as described in the patent of John Gib son, dated May 31, 1870, No. 103,734.

' After the awls have ascended, the die-plate is again turned one-quarter round, and carries the compressed pricked heel under the charging gang or drivers N, at which point a device called a charging-plate is used to receive and guide the nails while being driven into the pricked heel. This plate is composed of a block, Y, perforated for the reception of. the nails, the perforations cide with the drivers and the awl-holes in the heel-blank. The block Y is-provided upon its under side with a thin plate, Z, perforated in a similar manner and arranged to slide longitudinally in the guides at, for closing the bottom of the holes in the block, to support the nails therein, and for uncovering such holes to permit the passage of the nails into the heel.

The charging-plate, being first loaded with nails, is placed upon the die-plate beneath the drivers, and registered with the pierced heel by guide-pieces b on the'die-plate, as shown. If desired, dowel-pins entering the holes in the die may be employed for this latter purpose.

The descent of the drivers forces the nails through the charging-plate into the heel, the slide Z being automaticallyopcrated to open the passage for the nails by a pin, a, on the head of the drivers coming in contact with a beveled upright, 11, on such slide,and thereby forcing the latter inward, as shown in Fig. 4. As the nails are driven, they'force the heel. downward a very little onto a follower, E, in the frame, and therefore release it from the gripe of the die. The drivers then ascend, The die and the chargingplate is removed.

being so disposed as to coin-' plate is again revolved one-quarter round, carrying the loaded heelto an opening, F, in the bed-plate, through which it drops out of the machine. The follower E is also operated by pivoted adjustable levers Gand a cam, H, on the crank-shaft, as shown in Fig. 4. These levers, as well as the levers of the followerV, are made adjustable by means of set-screw's14 at their outer ends, for the purpose of carrying such followers to various heights, as required by the varying thickness of the heels.

The charging-plate not only holds the nails to be driven, but also serves to guide them into the heel and keep them true with the direction of the holes therein, thus facilitating the subsequent placing of the heel on a nailing-machine. a

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- 1. In a heel-compressing machine, the combination of an upper and lower compressor with an open tapering die, operatingto compress the heel on all sides and then release the pressure on the top and bottom surfaces, substantially as described. a p

2. The combination ofan awl-gang and awl plate with an open tapering die, operating first to release theside pressure; on the heel, secondly to prick theholes therein, and thirdly,

by the withdrawal of the awls to replace the heel in the die," substantially as described.

3. The followers, arranged to regulate the depression of the heel when the awls and naildrivers operate to pressit downward,substantially asdescribed.

4. In a machine for' nail-charging heels, an automatic nail holding and deliveringplate,

for-discharging a gang of nails directly into the heel, substantially as described.

5. A nail-charging,plate,consisting essentially of a nail-holder and an automatic slideopener, for the automatic openingof the nail- Witnesses:

JAMES W.'BRooKs, l e

' .FRaNoIs H; LINCOLN. 

